Meditation
Nephelomancy – Divination By Clouds
I first became interested in reading cloud formations when I was about 12 years old. I was fascinated by the imagery and symbols I was able to see in the shapes of clouds.
Due to my mother visiting another country, I was living at that time with a Dutch family for a while. They had two daughters and a son, and treated me as if I was one of their own. They were nurturing and very open, and they shared many of their own experiences and hopes with me.
The mother, a gentle lady, told me of how just a few months previously she’d received a frantic message from Holland to fly back urgently, because her mom was dying. But just two hours into the flight back home, as she was gazing out of the aircraft window, her departed mother showed herself very clearly in the cloud formation, as if she gently stepped out of the clouds to communicated with her.
Just thinking back to her telling me this story so long ago still gives me the shivers. Her mother then informed her telepathically that she need not rush, as she had already passed to spirit. She then said that she no longer felt stressed about missing her mom’s actual passing. Instead she now felt an incredible sense of inner peace and calm, knowing that all was well.
From that time forward, I became very aware of cloud formations and I would often look for signs from spirit, or try to see if one of my deceased pets or ancestors might be floating by to say hello! I also became more interested in what their formations might represent in the way of a prediction, omen or forewarning of any sort. Continue reading
The Sweet Dreams Of Spirit Visitation
Dreaming is one of the best ways for spirit to relay messages to you. When awake we mostly receive information from our senses, but when we are in the dream state, messages from beyond can reach us more easily.
While resting our conscious mind, our subconscious doesn’t need to battle for our attention, so dreams can play out like a movie in our mind and relay spiritual messages in the form of symbols, abstract story lines, or my favorite: past loved ones coming for a visit.
When in dream mode, our right-brain emotion is not challenged by our left-brain logic, making it easy for our subconscious to connect with spirit. In this altered state of consciousness our departed loved ones find it more easy to visit us.
So, how do you know you are just dreaming of a departed loved one, or experiencing an actual spirit visitation? A spirit visit is different from a dream for many reasons. Dreams will be prevalent when you first wake up, but will quickly fade from your memory.
A visitation is an actual visit from spirit. It may feel like a dream, but you will remember it more vividly and you will be able to play it back detail by detail, word for word, and clearly remember and relive the emotions you experienced during the visitation.
After my mother passed, she came to visit me a few months later in a lucid dream. I can still see the pantsuit she was wearing, her hairstyle, how young she looked, and the strong presence of her energy. In the dream she simply walked past me, went outside towards the pecan tree in the backyard, and then faded into the light. No words were spoken, but her brief presence was very comforting. I woke up crying, sobbing with mixed emotions of missing her and the joy being with her for that short moment in time.
How To Send Remote Healing
It is very disheartening when a loved one is not in the best of health, and due to circumstances you cannot be with that person. The good news, however, is that you do not need to be with them to assist or support them! Geographical distance does not stop you from sending them healing and love!
You see, cosmically speaking, we are all connected, and through this Universal network we can send positive vibes to those we care about. All you require is a little faith and focus.
Start With Yourself
There is no point in trying to send support to someone else, if you are not in a good place yourself. Therefore, connect with nature as much as you can, self-nurture to the maximum, feed your five senses regularly with all the good things in the world (meaning that what you hear, see, smell, taste and touch need to be as positive as possible). Bring the ‘feel-good factor’ into your life. Meditation can also be beneficial before sending someone else healing.
If you can get outside for some ‘natural nurture,’ do remember that trees can help bring about a great sense of serenity and calm. Choose the one you feel the most connected to, position yourself close to it and see how quickly you feel better, and thus ready to send positive energy and healing to your loved one in need.
Looking Within – A Message From My Guides
As the holiday season starts to ramp up around the world, everything becomes more and more hectic. Travel plans are made early. Gifts are purchased. Party invitations are extended. New outfits are bought. Menus are set. Baking is done. It is a wondrous time of year, to give thanks and to show appreciation to family, friends, neighbors and colleagues.
Under these circumstances, it is understandable that stress abounds too. For some people, in addition to all the excitement, there is a real feeling of obligation. The expectations of others can be overwhelming and, of course, it is impossible to please everyone. There is also the feeling that time is running too short to accomplish everything on the to-do list. Demands on your time can seem endless and unreasonable.
For others, the holiday season can be a very quiet and somewhat lonely time. Old memories can be triggered. Losses can become more heightened and a sense of sadness can prevail. In the Northern Hemisphere, the days get shorter and sometimes much colder, so sunlight isn’t as prevalent to perk you up and lighten your spirit.
Whether you are run off your feet or living a more solitary lifestyle, we recommend that you make some time to look within. A daily meditation habit can do wonders to give you a sense of peace, calm and gratitude. A quiet mind at the start of your day can prepare you for the remainder of each day as it unfolds. A peaceful feeling can help you to put things into perspective so as not to worry, overreact or panic unnecessarily.
Everyone has a ‘little narrator’ inside their head who is constantly chatting up a storm. If this little chatterbox was a real person sitting with you in your living room or in the car, you would eventually ask him or her to stop talking for a while so that you could think, read, watch TV, listen to music, converse, drive, and so on. However, because everyone has grown quite accustomed to this little tag-along giving constant commentary throughout the day, you carry on in spite of the continual interruptions.
Seeking Spirituality
During the years of private study with my teacher, Adyashanti, he used to speak a lot about belief systems and spiritual practices. I learned from him, among other things, that to believe something, as opposed to having a direct experience of it, are two entirely different things. If you believe something because you’ve been made to feel guilty for being a non-believer, or merely because you think it’s the ‘right’ thing to do, it’s likely that this belief will be challenged throughout your life.
However, if you have a direct experience that is of a spiritual nature, you’re more likely to remember it and the impact it had on you, and you are more likely to truly believe as a result. The direct spiritual experiences we have, whether through meditation, dreams, or psychic and paranormal phenomena, are the ones that help us grow as an individual and bring us into alignment with our soul.
Why is this? If you think about it, we are bombarded with information every day that our minds must either believe, memorize, and somehow apply. Our authentic state, soul or higher self, has a direct, intuitive knowing that doesn’t come from this information or thoughts triggered by the external world. This kind of ‘knowing’ comes from within. When we have moments where our ‘everyday mind’ is out of the way, either through a psychic vision, spiritual experience, dream, or simply a quiet, meditative state, we come back in touch with this original ‘inner knowing’ or ‘beingness.’
Some call this ‘enlightenment.’ According to my teacher, Adyashanti, and from my own direct experiences, true enlightenment is not something that can be learned, rather it’s the ‘unlearning’ of all thoughts we’ve taken in.
Nurturing The Spirit
Walk into any bookstore in any given city, and you will find a multitude of titles on diet, nutrition and healthy eating. We are warned repeatedly by the experts of the dangers of high cholesterol, the importance of adequate fiber in our diets, low sodium, low fat, less meat, more fruit and vegetables, and a myriad of other dietary guidelines and advice to keep us healthy all the way into eternity!
One can also search the Internet and immediately arrive at an astounding number of expert sources telling us not only when, where and how to eat, but also how to play, exercise and live out the rest of our lives with good health and well-being.
There are also a wide variety of applications and activities that we are able to participate in, that promise us mental agility and good memory retention, in order to remain of sound and alert mind. This is accomplished through an assortment of tests, quizzes, puzzles and mazes to show us exactly where we might need additional help and improvement.
All these resources and tools are provided to us in order that we can believe and accept the idea that the present life we are living can stay at the same level, with no need to think things may have to deteriorate over time. Being healthy, both physically and mentally, is of course exceptionally important if we want to stay in balance while we are going about our daily grind.
But what about the spiritual side of us? Granted there are books and programs available for any of us who are seeking such knowledge and information. However, I find it interesting that this vital aspect does not appear to feature in the forefront of our quest for health, well-being and longevity. Many of us go to great lengths to fulfill our obligation to nurture our minds and bodies, but what essential steps do we put in place to nurture the spirit that clearly dwells inside each of us?
The Power Of Mindfulness
Many spiritual and metaphysical teachers focus much attention on spiritual practices like meditation and mindfulness. The goal of these practices is to allow our consciousness to shift away from the past and the future, to focus instead on the present moment.
It is important to understand that the past is over. There is nothing taking place in the past any longer. This is important to understand if someone has a habit of rehashing the past in their mind. It doesn’t matter if someone is focusing on positive past experiences or negative events. Too much attention on the past is never useful.
The future is another area where people expend a lot of mental attention. Fantasy and worry are the two most common focuses when obsessing over the future. However, there is no amount of fantasy or worry that can ever make someone’s life better.
When we expend too much of our energy on the past or future, we are sacrificing the precious present moment. For this reason many spiritual teachings and traditions encourage mindfulness and meditation. These practices allow us to recognize our daily thought patterns and help us gain an understanding of where our attention is focused.
The present is the only moment that is real and that truly matters. This is where everything is happening – in the now. This is also the only moment where you have any real power.